Friday, July 12, 2013

How to Cure Seasickness, 1695

Ludolf Backhuysen, Ships in Distress in a Raging Storm, c. 1690
"Dear Past, How do I keep from getting seasick?"
"[O]thers assure me, That the best Remedy is, to keep always, night and day, a piece of Earth under the Nose; for which purpose they provide a sufficient quantity of Earth, and preserve it fresh in a Pot of Clay; and when they have us'd a piece so long till it begins to grow dry, they put it in again into the Pot, and take out some fresh Earth." 
Maximilien Misson, A New Voyage to Italy (1695).
In addition to abating seasickness, the earth treatment will also create the illusion of a handsome mustache. Win!



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